Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEIB) are core values of the Arabidopsis Community

We are committed to promoting a global plant sciences community that reflects the true diversity of all its members.

Free to use/re-use: training slide deck for session organizers & chairs
This article stems from a workshop at ICAR 2021-Virtual. It is written by the speakers, including former NAASC members Liz Haswell & Siobhan Brady. New group leaders are faced with an array of challenges. Many of these challenges are associated with

This article stems from a workshop at ICAR 2021-Virtual. It is written by the speakers, including former NAASC members Liz Haswell & Siobhan Brady. New group leaders are faced with an array of challenges. Many of these challenges are associated with an expansion of responsibilities and expectations as scientists become group leaders. This article aims to provide some guidance for new group leaders on a subset of these challenges. Inspired by questions such as: ‘What does it mean to lead a research program?’, ‘How can we make sustainable investments of our time, energy, and focus?’, and ‘What does it mean to advance knowledge?’, it is a collection insights, best practices, & resources from the workshop.

A NAASC workshop on this topic led to this community resource. Our purpose was to re-envision how outreach programs are funded, evaluated, acknowledged, and shared within the plant science community. We provide a roadmap to re-envision how outreach p

A NAASC workshop on this topic led to this community resource. Our purpose was to re-envision how outreach programs are funded, evaluated, acknowledged, and shared within the plant science community. We provide a roadmap to re-envision how outreach programs are funded, evaluated, acknowledged, and shared within the plant science community…a comprehensive resource for students and young faculty interested in developing effective outreach programs.

A NAASC workshop led to this publication. Discusses the "Big Questions” that could coalesce future research in plant biology. The Big Questions are described as strictly biologically motivated, but have obvious applications to plant improvement, the

A NAASC workshop led to this publication. Discusses the "Big Questions” that could coalesce future research in plant biology. The Big Questions are described as strictly biologically motivated, but have obvious applications to plant improvement, the bioeconomy, and human and environmental health. We hope this article will be an inspiration to beginning and established scientists, corporations, and funding agencies to capitalize on the reference species Arabidopsis thaliana.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) activities aim to full engage and welcome all members of the plant biology community

DEIB ACTIVITIES & INITIATIVES

  • We created the DiversifyPlantSci online database, a searchable list of plant biologists from under-represented groups to reference for opportunities, e.g., speakers and jobs.

  • Inclusivity Scholars Program to support members of underrepresented groups in US STEM to attend ICAR.

    Past

  • NAASC panel at ICAR 2024: Charting the Course and Weathering Storms: Organizational Practices and Individual Actions that Support Scientists as they Navigate Career Transitions. Organizers: Mentewab Ayalew (Spelman College, NAASC) & Mary Williams (ASPB, Root & Shoot)
    Careers Panel Report/Outcomes (PDF)- Written by Mary Williams

  • NAASC workshop at ICAR 2023: Diversity and Inclusion for Excellence in Science. Organizers: Yoselin Benitez-Alfonso, Kanako Bessho-Uehara, Joanna Friesner. Panelists: Benitez-Alfonso, Bessho-Uehara, and Jose Dinneny, Terri Long.

  • NAASC workshop at ICAR 2022-Belfast: IN PLANTA: INclusive Practices Leveraging Arabidopsis as a Nexus for Training and Application. NAASC Organizers: Cris Argueso, Joanna Friesner, Adrienne Roeder, Keith Slotkin & virtual session organizers: Dior Kelley & Jennifer Nemhauser

    IN PLANTA Workshop Report/Outcomes (PDF)

  • NAASC workshops at ICAR 2021-Virtual:

INCLUSIVE CONFERENCES

  • Since 2004 we have secured funding to expand access and help diversify our community's annual meetings (ICAR). We’ve given 600+ early career scholar travel awards and full-funding awards to 120+ members of underrepresented groups in US STEM via the Inclusivity Scholars Program (ISP)

  • In 2015 we evolved the ISP into the "ISP cohort program”.

    New Approaches for ICAR 2020/ICAR 2021-Virtual

    Summary of our new approaches for ICAR 2020/2021 (PDF)

  • We surveyed the community (n= ~700 responses) and the top priorities were: More opportunities to give a talk; More diverse topics; More diverse invited speakers

    In response, we radically changed how we made the ICAR program to diversify topics & speakers:

  • We introduced community mini-symposia: concurrent sessions to be proposed & organized by the community. We received nearly 100 applications for 36 slots and provided a budget to each session.

  • We increased the number of speaking slots to 250+

  • NAASC organizers selected just 8% of the speakers (the remaining 92% came from the community)

  • We stated our Commitment to DEIB in the minisymposium application & included DEIB questions to ensure diversity of session leaders & speakers (at a global level) & to enable us to determine if our outreach efforts were effective.

  • We had a 3-pronged selection process for plenary & keynote speakers & plenary topics using a DEIB lens:

    • We decided to exclude invited speakers that had been a keynote or plenary speaker at one of the last 5 ICARs & ASPB annual conferences.

    • Invited speaker suggestions and plenary topics were gathered via: community survey; external advisory board; the DiversifyPlantSci database; & by surveying recent plant biology publications.

    • After we developed a draft speaker list we assessed it with a global DEIB lens. Then we grouped speakers into sessions. This enabled us to identify exciting speakers whose work may be so new that it doesn't fit into a standard "conference topic box"; it also spurred us to devise creative and integrated session themes for a novel & exciting program.

Improving Outreach in Plant Science. Organizer, Jose Dinneny, Stanford University

NAASC Workshop (UC Davis, Nov. 2018):

Broadening the Impact of Plant Science Through Community-Based Innovation, Evaluation & Sharing of Outreach Programs

Jose Dinneny- Innovative, Inclusive, and Integrative Plant Science Outreach

Liz Haswell- Podcasting for community-building and community-broadening

Ying Sun- Let the Real You Shine: Programs to Enhance Diversity and Inclusion in Graduate Education

Alexandra Schnoes- Democratizing Science Education

Mary Wildermuth- Developing the Next Generation of Diverse Scientists

DEIB Presentations at the Public Workshop

Outcomes of ICAR 2021 new DEIB programming

The result was the most diverse program in ICAR history:

  • With 23 of the 300+ speakers invited by organizers, the program prioritized the community: 92% of the program was community-proposed sessions, which featured students, postdocs and pre-tenure faculty in 67% of the speaking slots.

  • Gender parity was achieved in the invited speakers (52% women), community mini-symposium chairs (59% women) and community session speakers (52% women).

  • A demographic that continued to show imbalance is the racial and ethnic diversity of conference attendees, which may reflect the make-up of the plant science community at large. There is clearly more effort and focus needed to enable equal participation and leadership in the plant sciences.

  • Changing Cultures & Climates. Organizers: Siobhan Brady, Terri Long, Jennifer Nemhauser

  • Exploring Acting in Allyship. Organizers: Siobhan Braybrook, Joanna Friesner

  • ‘Our Lab’: Building a Community. Organizer: Siobhan Braybrook

  • Career Panel. Organizers: Jennifer Nemhauser, and Early Career Scholars committee: Mohammad Salehin, UNC Greensboro (UNCG); Ruth Ndathe, Louisiana State; Jeongim Kim, U. Florida; Leiyun Yang, Cornell; Mahdis Zolfaghar, U. Tehran; Sonal Yadav, IISER Mohali; Clara Williams, UC Berkeley

  • NAASC workshop at ICAR 2017-St. Louis:

    Careers in Industry Panel: Speakers/panelists:  Natalie Breakfield, Ph.D., NewLeaf Symbiotics; Tiffany Lucas, Ph.D., BioGenerator; Dann Adair, CONVIRON; Chelly Hresko, Ph.D., Monsanto, M. Annie Saltarikos, Ph.D., Monsanto